With the TES 1326 Infrared Thermometer literally in hand we found ourselves getting real-world temperatures from the products we test at load (3D clock speeds).

There are two places we pull temperature from - the back of the card directly behind the core and if the card is dual slot and has an exhaust point we also pull a temperate from there, as seen in the picture.

It's clearly doing its job, the water setup shows temps being a massive 22c lower on the back of the card.

Sound Tests

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

This kind of surprised us, water cooling is generally quieter but this is actually quite loud. It's not the fan that makes the noise or the pump, it seems to be the water moving around. So while it's a bit on the loud side, it's actually somewhat calming. You know, Leadtek 8800 Ultra with calming noises of the ocean.